London-bound Air India flight aborts take-off after ants found in business class

This Air India flight could not take off from the Delhi airport as a swarm of ants was found in the business class of the flight. The Prince of Bhutan was a passenger on the flight. A source told The Daily Guardian that “Immediately the crew members informed the pilots about the swarm of ants […]

Air-India
by Rakesh Kumar Singh - September 7, 2021, 8:40 am

This Air India flight could not take off from the Delhi airport as a swarm of ants was found in the business class of the flight. The Prince of Bhutan was a passenger on the flight.

A source told The Daily Guardian that “Immediately the crew members informed the pilots about the swarm of ants on board and later the pilots of the aircraft decided to abort the landing.”

The Air India AI-111 flight was scheduled for London (LHR) airport on time, but before business class passengers complained about ants in the business seat. 

Later, the Air India flight was taken to the airport’s technical area for thorough screening among all 248 passengers deboarded.

“The flight was taken to the technical bay for checking, all passengers were deboarded and taken to the terminal building.”

All the passengers including the Prince of Bhutan were forced to wait for over two hours at the International Terminal of Indira Gandhi International Airport.

All passengers were finally allowed to board the plane after going through immigration and security checks again. 

“Due to a technical issue, the aircraft was changed and has already left,” an Air India official told The Daily Guardian. 

This year in May, an Air India flight which had taken off from Delhi airport early returned back after the pilot reported the presence of a bat to Air Traffic Control (ATC).